"I have heard some rumors about this matter, but nothing concrete has been confirmed yet. Infected individuals do not trust outsiders, especially non-infected people like us."
Looking at the message from Lin Yuhsia on his phone, Shirou could not help but admit her efficiency was impressive.
He had sent the information to five people, and aside from Yith, only Lin Yuhsia had already responded.
That made sense. The Lungmen Guard Department had difficulty operating in the slums; it was as if they were looking through a layer of black cloth. The Guard Department could not clearly see what was happening in the slums, and the slums could not clearly see the intentions of the Guard Department.
Because of that, people like Ch'en, Swire, and Hoshiguma, those who genuinely wanted to improve the slums found it difficult to act.
In contrast, Lin Yuhsia had managed to gather quite a lot of information, although most of it overlapped with Lappland's report.
If there was anyone truly reliable for intelligence, it would be Yith.
But Yith seemed busy with other work at the moment, so Shirou did not bother them. Instead, he focused on discussing the situation with Lin Yuhsia, the only one actively monitoring it.
"I understand that. But if they only contact infected people, it will indeed be more troublesome."
After typing a few lines, he sent the message.
Actually, reaching those people would not be difficult for Shirou. If he ignored the risks, Fuyuki Shop itself was essentially a gathering point for infected individuals. Once word spread, people would naturally come.
But he did not want the children to get involved in this.
Perhaps they had been exposed to such things in the past, but at least now they had moved away from it. With a skill and support from Rhodes Island, the children could live stable lives.
There was no need to drag them back into this.
As for whether that group might contact Rhodes Island… the possibility was high. After all, suppressants were expensive, and if they wanted to organize large numbers of infected individuals, they would need a large supply.
Hiss… he really felt like his brain was starting to overheat. Why make things difficult for a normal high school student like him?
Ah, right. He was the one meddling in things.
Then he should just think harder.
At that moment, Shirou felt his mind working faster than ever, analyzing what infected individuals would need and trying to extract clues from those needs.
If there was anything most essential for survival, it would be food and water.
Thinking of this, he shared the idea with Lin Yuhsia.
However, what he could think of, she had obviously already considered as well. She had even already started arranging for some idle infected individuals to make contact.
Seeing that she had already moved several steps ahead, Shirou felt like his brain could just shut down and rest.
"Hm… I should probably inform the office as well."
Feeling like giving up, Shirou ultimately decided it was still better to act properly. He directly called the office to get in touch.
After all, the person on the other end was a doctor.
From what he had seen of the doctors at Rhodes Island, he reasonably suspected they were too busy to check messages.
So the only option was to call directly. If that did not work, he would go there in person.
After all, it was just a small detour.
After a while, the call connected.
"Hello… this is… the Rhodes Island office… how can I help…?"
The voice on the other end was a woman's, somewhat weak in tone.
Fortunately, the surrounding environment was not very noisy, so it did not interfere with Shirou's phone call.
"Is Operator Minmin currently busy?"
Since he was not familiar with the other party, Shirou did not try to tell her to calm down. In situations like this, repeatedly telling someone to calm down would only increase their pressure.
So normal conversation was enough.
"Operator Minmin? She is here… do you need me to let her take the call?"
After hearing Shirou's normal response, the other party's voice seemed to become slightly louder, and her speech was no longer broken.
"If it is convenient for Minmin, then that is fine. If not, please tell her to contact me when she is free. Just say Shirou called."
After Shirou spoke, he nodded slightly in satisfaction.
This was not the first time he had dealt with someone lacking confidence. Seeing the other party gather the courage to speak more clearly and confidently felt like a good thing to him.
He did not mind being a kind of "practice partner." Watching others grow through interaction made him happy as well.
"Alright… please wait a moment."
After he finished speaking, the other party left that sentence, and Shirou heard the sound of the phone being placed down on a desk, followed by a familiar complaining voice:
"Honestly! A call at this time is definitely not something good! If he does not bring lunch next time, I am definitely going to stick him a couple more times during blood draw!"
Shirou: "..."
It seemed her mood was not very good.
"Shirou? What is it?"
Unlike the earlier voice full of resentment, Minmin's voice now was as calm as usual, as if the person threatening revenge through blood draws just now had never existed.
"I received some unofficial information and wanted to give you a warning…"
At this moment, Shirou felt something stuck in his throat, but he still prioritized the matter at hand and tried to end the call quickly.
Doctors were very busy, after all.
"I think I may have heard about it from a patient, but we have not encountered it directly yet. We will be more careful on our side. Rhodes Island has also sent an Operation Reserve Team to assist! With your people helping as well, it should be fine!"
After learning this information, Minmin felt that she, as a doctor, had been burdened with far more than she needed to know.
But there was nothing she could do about it. She was the first to receive the information, after all.
She still had to make timely judgments. And since Shirou mentioned contacting people he knew and trusted at the office, and possibly arranging personnel and medication support, she also had to coordinate accordingly.
In short, Shirou's idea sounded good, but reality would not be that optimistic. Rhodes Island had also encountered situations where "good intentions were wrapped around malice" before.
At least it was not hopeless. Shirou was very capable in combat and was a cooperative partner of Rhodes Island, so he would not abandon them. There should be no problem.
"Alright, I will inform the other side. I might pass your contact information to them later. Please remember to check your messages when you have time."
When hearing about the "Operation Reserve Team," Shirou immediately thought of Team A1. Before he left Rhodes Island, they had also been preparing for deployment.
It seemed this time it was indeed old acquaintances again.
After finishing his friendly communication with Minmin, Shirou then brought up the matter with Lin Yuhsia.
Lin Yuhsia: "Rhodes Island office? I understand. You do not need to worry about this. I have already been monitoring this area for a long time."
Looking at her latest message, Shirou felt that although he had "grown a brain," it still did not seem very useful.
Sigh. Perhaps "Broken Phantasm" really was his final destination.
At that moment, Shirou even started thinking about asking Exusiai to explore how to maximize explosive power.
Just as he was about to step onto this dangerous path, another message from Lin Yuhsia arrived.
"I know Rhodes Island and Fuyuki Shop have a cooperation agreement. I am only monitoring this as a precaution. The low cost of treating infected individuals… is somewhat suspicious."
She seemed to be worried that Shirou might misunderstand her intentions, so she added this clarification.
After all, text alone could easily cause miscommunication.
Especially since Shirou was a very good partner. The last time he had used a Katana to cut through a building like tofu was still fresh in memory. If such a person became an enemy, it would be troublesome.
But while Lin Yuhsia was overthinking all of this, Shirou's reaction was the opposite.
He simply read the message literally.
Although he was no longer the kind of person who did not even know how to use a phone, he still only knew the basics.
He had not yet grasped deeper aspects of online communication, especially interpersonal nuance.
Forgive him, he could not understand strange abbreviations or stickers.
Even if he learned them today, new ones would appear soon after, making it hard to keep up.
So, apart from close acquaintances, he rarely sent messages.
"Indeed, it is suspicious. I had also suspected that before. But I can guarantee that in handling both infected individuals, Rhodes Island will act appropriately. Of course, this is only my personal opinion."
Send.
After seeing Lin Yuhsia express doubts about Rhodes Island, Shirou replied from the perspective of a multi-party collaborator, speaking in defense of Rhodes Island.
Besides Fuyuki Shop, he also had contracts with Penguin Logistics and Rhodes Island itself, not to mention his personal agreement with Kal'tsit. In many ways, he was closely tied to them.
He also liked the environment of Rhodes Island, so he believed they would not do anything too extreme.
After sending the message, Lin Yuhsia simply replied with "understood" and did not continue.
"Did I say anything wrong?"
Putting his phone down on the table, Shirou leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, thinking over what he had just said.
His stance was clear: he supported Rhodes Island.
As for whether others believed him or not, it was not something he cared too much about.
As for Penguin Logistics? They are already partners with Rhodes Island, so there is not much of an issue. Even if something really went wrong and led to them parting ways...
Shirou would at least still honor his agreement with Kal'tsit. If a disaster related to magecraft were to occur, he would step in to stop it.
Although he quite liked the atmosphere over there and got along well with the other operators, he still had to take care of the four members of Penguin Logistics.
Just look at what happened when he left for only a few days. Not to mention other places, just the kitchen alone looked as if Exusiai had bombed it with stink bombs.
Who knows how he managed to muster the courage to walk into the kitchen this morning.
It seemed like he was cursing his past self from yesterday.
"...Forget it. Let it be for now."
After thinking for a long time, Shirou felt a headache coming on. He straightened up and went to pour himself a glass of water.
Then he saw Lappland sitting in front of him, legs crossed.
"Finished being busy?"
Lappland stared at him with her usual teasing gaze, and Shirou had a bad feeling about this.
"Yes. Are you full?"
Keeping his composure, Shirou poured himself a glass of water and replied.
"There was a small issue in the middle, but I am fairly satisfied."
"Then what is it now? Do you need something?"
Looking at Lappland smiling, Shirou felt the situation was gradually shifting from bad to incomprehensible.
"I do have a small request."
Lappland raised her right hand, emphasizing the tiny gap between her index finger and thumb.
"...Go ahead."
Seeing that gesture, Shirou's lips twitched slightly.
The last time he saw that gesture, it seemed Exusiai was asking him to lend her money.
So now Lappland was going to borrow money from him?
But judging from how she had been shopping like crazy at Rhodes Island last time, she did not seem short on money.
In any case, it was better to ask what she had in mind first.
"Well... could I have a bit more of your blood? After tasting it in the car last time, my body felt much lighter."
After Lappland finished speaking, Shirou immediately shook his head and refused.
"I looked into it a bit afterward. The reason you felt lighter is because there is magical energy in my body. When you drink my blood, you absorb that magic into yourself. That is the main reason you felt that way."
"And you should have seen it back then too, right? Part of my memories. I do not really want others to see my memories. That feeling is quite unpleasant."
Following Kal'tsit's explanation, Shirou laid out his reasoning.
He eliminated the most critical factor and attributed the phenomenon to magical energy.
Then he brought up the issue of memories, making it clear that he did not want others to see them. That alone would be enough to deal with most people.
If someone tried to force the issue, Shirou would not hold back. He would simply beat them up and make them understand that his blood was not something they could take so easily.
"I did notice that... In that case, forget it."
After hearing Shirou, Lappland accepted the reality.
She had originally thought she could occasionally come and experience that feeling, but since Shirou himself was unwilling, she would not push it.
Not to mention Texas, she could not do anything against Shirou anyway. Being strung up in the kitchen earlier was proof enough.
And having someone spy on your memories... that was indeed not a pleasant thing. She was curious, but she also knew that too much curiosity could get her killed.
However, if drinking Shirou's blood let her see his memories, then what about the other way around?
No, better not. If she turned Shirou into an infected, Lungmen would probably become her end.
The people Shirou had come into contact with in Lungmen seemed... somewhat terrifying.
As for that, Lappland decided she wanted no part in this mess.